One of my cats we call Li'l Momma suddenly starting having problems last weekend. She is about 2 years old, she is a small cat, we never have had any health problems with her at all. It was around 1:00am on the 17th and at the time she was nursing her 3 three week old babies and all the sudden she arched backwards and her front legs went straight and stiff, her eyes were big and dialated, she was panting real fast and was screeching out a loud cry. I called the vet and since it was a weekend there was only a message with a number for emergencies. I called the number and ended up bringing her into the animal emergency hospital that is a couple towns over. They ran tests on her and hooked her up to IVs and worked on flushing her system out in case she got something toxic that she shouldn't of had. They tested her liver and kidneys to make sure they were all working okay. I always keep any meds or anything else like that put up, like babyproofing a house. I picked her up Monday morning and had to transfer her to her regular vet. They hooked her back up on the IVs, had some additional tests done and kept her in the intensive care unit. She was not holding a steady temperature, they had to put her in an incubator and they ended up putting her on antibiotics also. I called or stopped in to check on her several times a day and prayed for her every night.
Meanwhile, I have 3 three week old, cuter than ever, baby kitties of hers that don't have their mother to take care of them at the moment. So I have to get formula that is like the mothers milk and little baby bottles to feed them. Wow, what a task that was getting them to take the bottle instead of nursing on mom. After a couple of rough days getting adjusted, they finally started taking to the bottle real good and sucking on it like a baby would. They need feedings about every 5-6 hours. Then you got to help them to go potty too, what fun, lol....I let the bf do that part, my hands are too small to get a good hold on them anyways.
The first few days Li'l Momma was in very bad condition and things didn't look well for her, then she started getting better, but would have times where she would go back to not doing very well. I prayed every night for her and by Wednesday she started doing pretty good and eating a bit on her own, but she still didn't keep a good temperature and was weak and still having potty accidents. Thursday she was doing even better and they said she ate like a champ and they took her out of the incubator and was holding a normal temperature, no more accidents too. They said I could come get her and take her home, but would have to keep her away from the other cats in the house and her babies too. I asked them to keep her another night to make sure she's going to be okay and so we can get better prepared at home for her. I also was worried about her wanting her babies stressing her out. On Friday the 22nd we got to pick her up at the vets and they said she now could have contact with the others and her babies, she just couldn't feed her babies any more. She still is weak and a bit wobbly, but she is doing well. We have her set up in a good size cage. She's eating and drinking water real good, she uses the small litter box we got to put in the cage with her. I could tell she knew her babies were close by and she wanted to be with them, but couldn't yet. She didn't get to be with her babies at all the first day home, we wanted her to get readjusted and settled in first, but today after we gave them a good feeding and made sure they were full, I put the babies in the cage with her and she took them right away. She started cleaning them up and caring for them. They wanted to nurse a bit off her, out of habit I think, but I didn't let them and they didn't try that hard anyways. She cleaned up each one of them and they crawled around on her a bit. It was so adorable watching momma and the babies bond again after a week apart. It was cut short tho and I had to put the babies back in the little carrier I have them in and they all went to sleep. I can't let them fall asleep in there with her and end up nursing off her when I'm not watching. I have to keep them seperated and momma don't like that. I keep the carrier close to her cage so she can still see them, she keeps trying to reach out for them tho, she wants them in the cage with her. She knows that they are safe and I am just helping her to take good care of them. She sees they all went back to sleep and they are okay, so she cleaned herself up for the night and got in her little bed that I put in the cage and is ready to go to sleep for the night I think. She's had a real real rough week, but I thank God and the wonderful vets that cared for her and got her better for me to bring back home where she belongs.
Things are looking real good for Li'l Momma and her babies. It's going to still be a bit of a rough weekend tho. I'll be watching over her very very closely and not leaving her alone for any length of time. She is still week and needs my constant care. Tuesday I will call the vet and let them know how she's doing and get any further instructions on her care.
The only chance I've had to have some time for myself or getting online or whatever, is late at night after the cats, bf and my son are all asleep for the night. By that time, I'm so worn out and tired, plus I know I'll have to get up again in a while and start all over again, so I end up with about 10 minutes to check on email and get a quick glance at the forum before I fall asleep from exhaustion.
So, this past week me being supermom to sick momma kitty and her three baby kitties, the other cats and the male kiddies at home (ages 15, 22, 23 & 45) has really kept my busy and got me wiped out. I wanted to share this story with you all tho, to let you know what's been up with me and also to ask something of you all.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY THIS WOULD OF HAPPENED TO HER? HAS ANYONE SEEN OR HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE? IF ANYONE IS A VET OR KNOWS A VET THAT WOULD HELP ME WITH SOME EXTRA THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
They sent my Li'l Momma home to me in much better shape than when I brought her to them. I am so thankful for all that helped save her, but nobody could really give me any kind of answer to why it happened, they just don't know why. I would really really like to see if I could find some kind of answer. I am getting copies of everything from the emergency hospital and the vets office. Believe me when I say this, I have very good reasons why I want to find out more.
Li'l Momma and I thank you for taking the time to read thru all this!
